As the collegiate soccer season nears its end, every game becomes more important for the UCLA men’s soccer team.
The Bruins (5-4-5, 3-1-1 Pac-10) begin the second half of their conference schedule tonight against the Huskies (8-4-1, 3-1-1 Pac-10) at Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle.
Both teams are tied in the conference standings, meaning the winner of tonight’s game will gain sole possession of first place.
Last weekend, the Bruins shut down then-Pac-10 leader, Washington, at Drake Stadium with a 2-0 win, but now the Huskies have a chance to redeem themselves on their own home turf.
With both teams dueling for the top spot in the conference, the intensity is sure to run high.
Aside from getting ready to play against a tough team on the road, the Bruins will have to be mentally prepared for the enthusiastic Husky fans.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Brian Perk, who registered a pair of shutouts last weekend, thinks he and his teammates are ready for the rowdy crowd that awaits them.
“We’re preparing ourselves for anything,” Perk said. “You don’t know what the weather is going to do and how the people are going to act. They’re crazy, and they love their team. We’re really excited to go up there.”
Washington, currently riding a five-game home unbeaten streak, has proven to play tough at home. While the Bruins had the upper hand over the Huskies last weekend, they are going to face a different game on the road.
One of the team’s concerns is the size of the opponents.
But after testing them out last weekend, junior midfielder Michael Stephens maintains the mentality that on the soccer field, size doesn’t matter.
“Washington has a lot of big guys,” Stephens said. “But I think we have smaller and faster players that can have a lot of success playing underneath and can eventually get around their defense. We’re going to bring the same game we brought last weekend because it got us two important wins.”
Coach Jorge Salcedo is also confident that his team will do what it did last weekend, especially after seeing how his team performed against the two tough opponents. To be better prepared for this weekend, the Bruins worked on improving their tactics during this week’s practice.
“We feel good about this last weekend,” Salcedo said. “But we also know there’s some things we needed to work on, which we have, so we go up with a lot of confidence. We may change things up a little bit because on the road it’s a different game. We’ve done a few different things in training to get ourselves prepared to play differently in terms of formation. We’re still tinkering with some ideas on how we’re going to line up.”
After the team plays in Seattle tonight, it will travel south to face Oregon State (4-7-3, 1-3-1 Pac-10) in Corvallis, Ore., on Sunday.
With the intense competition of the two matches aside, the Bruins are looking forward to playing in a cooler environment.
“A night where it’s 50 degrees is cool but pleasant to play soccer,” Salcedo said. “It feels like you can run all night, and it’ll be something that the guys will be thankful for.”